This is a teaser for the upcoming video, and if the few submissions I've seen are an indicator, this video is going to be amazing. In order to garner submissions, one of the co-creators, Sam Katz, created what is possibly the greatest Tumblr page ever (I wouldn't really know, it's probably the third Tumblr page I've ever seen, but it's truly brilliant), so be sure to check it out, I laughed till I cried.

"The attrition rate is high, because the life is miserable and based on a mountain of fairy tales.Why be Shomer Shabbos, if it's all based on fairy tales?"

I'd like to compare most Chassidic experiences to what I call the Space Jam (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Jam) phenomenon. In Space Jam you have Michael Jordan, Bill Murray and Larry Bird who are real and the Looney Tunes characters that aren't. Many Chassidic stories are like the Looney Tunes characters as by and large they're made up (though some MIGHT be true), but there is no reason to believe that the Torah/Tanach isn't at the very least historically accurate. That's where I think the confusion sets in: how does one know what's real and what's not?

Another problem is that there are certain parts of the Torah that are completely allegorical, yet we are left to figure out what those parts are.

I recall someone telling me a version of the story of the Garden of Eden that might shed some light. Gd told Adam to not eat from the fruit of the tree. Adam in turn told Eve that, not only did Gd say to not eat from it, but to not touch from the tree either. The snake then pushed Eve to the tree, showing her that Gd didn't strike her down "then and there." Eve wondered, "if Gd's instructions here aren't true, what else isn't?" That was the beginning of the end for her and later on Adam. Again, how does one sift the real from the allegorical fairy tales per se?

As for being Shomer Shabbos there are many practical benefits to being able to "tune out" one day a week and just rest. If done properly you can palpably feel a peaceful aura, be it real or imagined.